Throwback Thursday: Coxwell Ratshivhadelo

Posted: 1 March 2018Time: 13:00

Unlike most footballers, Coxwell Ratshivhadelo did not wait for the end of his career to start looking for a job that would put food on the table.

Nicknamed 'Magic' by his childhood friend Mirinda Madula when they were still playing for an amateur team called Vondwe Dangerous Tigers, Ratshivhadelo started working as a correctional services officer while he was still playing in the PSL. He works at Johannesburg's Leeuwkop Prison.

"I got a post in Gauteng from a correctional officer and fortunately Wits were after my services," says Ratshivhadelo, who joined Bidvest Wits from Black Leopards.

"They were very professional [at Wits] and I was taken care of until the end of my contract.

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"The most I earned was R13 000 from Wits and I earned R2500 at Black Leopards in my first season. I never saved [money] when I was playing for Black Leopards but I did at Wits, hence I sent my two kids to university. They are graduates and working now."

The 48-year-old finally retired while in the colours of Pietersburg Pillars FC as he could no longer cope with having two jobs at once.

"I retired in 2006 playing for Pietersburg Pillars. I was 36 and I had to quit because of work commitments. I've been working at correctional services since 1998, that's why I never had a problem to quit as I had planned for life after football. I'm enjoying it a lot.

"I am currently divorced and I have five kids. My first born is 27 and is working in Durban. My second born is 24 and is working here in Johannesburg. My third born is in matric, he is 17 and I have an 18-year-old stepdaughter who is doing her first year at Pretoria University. My last born is eight and in grade three."